#19th Century

Dine & Wine

Why Did So Many Artists Drink Absinthe?

Curious about the abundance of paintings featuring people indulging in absinthe throughout art history? You’re not alone. As I pondered this,...

Magda Michalska 13 May 2024

Herstory

Caroline von der Embde—Female Empowerment Through a Painted Selfie

Women artists’ self-portraits have always struck audiences—no other motive proved as ideal for promoting their careers in a male-dominated...

Kero Fichter 13 May 2024

Asian Art

Raja Ravi Varma: A Fine Mixture of European Realism and Indian Sensibility

Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) was one of the most celebrated and prominent artists from India. His works combined European realism with Indian...

Anuradha Sroha 13 May 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Whistler’s Mother by James McNeill Whistler

Whistler’s 1871 painting Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1 might not sound familiar. As Whistler’s Mother, on the other hand, it has entered...

Catriona Miller 12 May 2024

Artist Stories

10 Things You May Not Know About Édouard Manet

Who has not heard of Édouard Manet? The same Manet whose canvas, Le Déjeuner sur L’herbe (or The Luncheon on the Grass), ushered in a new age for...

Ledys Chemin 7 May 2024

Impressionism

10 Best Portraits by Édouard Manet

Édouard Manet is known as one of the most controversial artists of his time. Highly criticized for his realism and for depicting modern life scenes...

Zuzanna Stańska 7 May 2024

Artist Stories

Édouard Manet’s Life in 5 Short Facts

Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was a French modernist painter. His paintings have been heavily critiqued and ridiculed by art juries and critics at the...

Ruxi Rusu 7 May 2024

manet bar at the folies bergere Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère is considered Édouard Manet’s last major painting. Presented in the Paris Salon of 1882, just a year before the...

Anastasia Manioudaki 7 May 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Pilgrims Going to Church by George Henry Boughton

Today’s Masterpiece Story is about Pilgrims Going to Church by George Henry Boughton (1833-1905). Even though Boughton grew up in America, he was...

Alexandra Kiely 5 May 2024

Frederic Edwin Church aurora borealis: Frederic Edwin Church, Aurora Borealis, 1865, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Aurora Borealis by Frederic Edwin Church

Aurora Borealis is an American national treasure. It explores the relationship between the land, its viewer, and its destiny. It is a masterpiece of...

James W Singer 5 May 2024

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City, 1885, White House, Washington DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner

Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City is a masterpiece of Black art and history. It was painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner during a time of incredible...

James W Singer 5 May 2024

Impressionists, Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Planers, 1875 Painting

Jobs in Art Which Don’t Exist Anymore (or Seem Not To)

I think the following motto perfectly fits today as we celebrate all the workers of the world (students count too!). On this occasion I would like to...

Magda Michalska 1 May 2024